Although still only 25 when he arrived at Southampton, Bert Dainty had already played for three Football League clubs – Leicester, New Brighton and Notts County – and for Southern League Northampton. But, then, he had never stayed with any of them for more than a season. The announcement, after a year at Southampton, that he would be continuing in that vein, provoked a public outcry. This was because he had proved such a capable successor, at centre-half, to Arthur Chadwick and Tommy Bowman.

He was coolness personified, whether he was steadfastly defending during desperate pressure around the goal or precisely feeding the ball to his forwards.

Having left for Dundee, he then broke his habit of moving annually by remaining for six years. In 1910 alongside Bert Lee he won a Scottish Cup winners medal when Dundee beat Clyde.

He then reverted to his restless ways, flitting to Bradford and back to Scotland, before the outbreak of war. Post-war, he had a stint as chairman at Dundee Hibernian and then coached in Canada and Ecuador. In 1926, he returned to local football in his native Northants, as a trainer – in which capacity he then had a long spell at Ipswich Town, helping them to achieve League status in 1938. In later years, he became an insurance agent.